Former Gov. Codey Tells (Almost) All

New Jersey’s 53^rd Governor, and current State Senator, Richard Codey told humorous stories and anecdotes in support of his newest book, Me, Governor?,  in front of supporters and fellow politicians on Saturday at Words Bookstore in Maplewood.  Following a presentation from Words owners, Ellen and Jonah Zimiles, and a proclamation from Maplewood Mayor Victor DeLuca marking June 4, 2011 as Richard Codey Day in Maplewood, Codey entertained the crowd for half an hour while telling tales of his life which included being raised as the son of a coroner and growing up working in the family business.

My father was the county coroner which meant that any person who died unnaturally in Essex County, which you could imagine was quite a few, whether it be car crashes, murders, suicides, plane crashes, you name it, anything like that, meant that me and my brothers and my cousins had to go pick up the body.  Besides that, it was a great childhood. – Richard Codey

Following additional stories about his parents and childhood, Codey was asked about his political allies, both friend and foe, to which the former governor did not hold back.

What we have in the state of New Jersey, which unfortunately is endemic to my party, is political bosses who believe, “Hey, I’ll give you a job, I’ll give you legal work, and then you do as I say.”  And it’s wrong and it’s sad that you have people who are not legislators and not party officials dictating to people how they should vote in this day and age is unbelievable.  But if you don’t think it’s happening, I’ve got some swampland in Florida for you.  – Richard Codey

Codey also addressed current events and issues facing the state during the informal forum.  He declared his support to return the income tax credit and his concerns about charter schools in the Maplewood/South Orange school district.  He also weighed in on current Governor Chris Christie’s recent helicopter ride to his son’s baseball game.

You’ve got to be judicious about it.  Whether you are going to a political function or a non-governmental function, you’ve got to take it out of your political PAC or your own pocket or whatever.  And the other thing was, go land somewhere else.  I mean eventually he did the right thing (by paying the state back for the ride), but he didn’t say he did the wrong thing. – Richard Codey

Overall, Codey showed his charm and humor during the signing which made him a popular governor for the state.  He finished off by explaining a conversation with former New York Governor David Patterson about the one thing that made his whole governorship possible, sex.

I said to Dave, “listen Dave, we didn’t have to campaign, we didn’t have to raise money, we just let two people have sex.” … It goes to show you that you don’t need to participate in the act to derive pleasure from it. – Richard Codey